IPL News: Kohli the batsman is an absolute master, Kohli the captain is an apprentice: Gautam Gambhir

What's the story?

Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir is not impressed with Virat Kohli's captaincy and pointed out his poor decision-making throughout the season.

In case you didn't know..

RCB has lost each of their six matches this season. The team led by Virat Kohli needs to win at least seven out of their last eight matches to have any chance of qualifying for the playoffs.

Heart of the matter

Gautam Gambhir is regarded as one of the best tacticians in IPL history. The former KKR captain led his team to 2 title wins in the IPL. The left-handed batsman appreciated the fact that Kohli is brilliant with the bat but he said that Kohli has a lot to learn as captain.

The former KKR captain further added that Kohli must learn to take some blame on himself instead of blaming his bowlers.

"While Virat Kohli the batsman is an absolute master, Virat Kohli the captain is an apprentice. He has loads to learn. Rather than blaming the bowlers, he should take the blame on himself", Gambhir wrote in his column in Times of India.

Gambhir also pointed out that the RCB management messed up in the IPL auction where they didn't go for the right kind of players. He claimed that RCB made a mistake by not going all out for a genuine fast bowler.

"I would start with last year's auction where they messed up, Why did they go for Marcus Stoinis and Nathan Coulter-Nile if they knew these players were not available from the start? At a small venue like the Chinnaswamy, where the wicket is flat, I would have gone with an out-and-out fast bowler", Gambhir further added

The former KKR captain also pointed out few mistakes made by Virat Kohli in KKR's win vs RCB. Gambhir argued that a captain is only as good as his record shows and Kohli has a poor record as a captain in IPL. Gambhir further added that Kohli should feel lucky because RCB has stuck with him in spite of him not delivering results.

"I don't see him as a shrewd captain," he had told Star Sports. "I don't see him as a tactful captain. And he hasn't won the IPL. So ultimately, a captain is only as good as his record. He has been captaining RCB for the last seven to eight years and he has been very lucky and should be thanking the franchise that they stuck with him because not many captains have got such a long rope where they haven't won a tournament", Gambhir said

What's next?

RCB will need a miracle to qualify for the playoffs from this position. If they fail to make the playoffs, you can expect a few big changes.

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